How Long Do Highlights Last? Expert Tips to Keep Them Fresh and Shiny

If you’re wondering how long your highlights will last, the answer depends on your hair type, the technique used by your colorist, and how well you care for your color at home. Typically, highlights last between 6 to 12 weeks before they need refreshing — but with the right maintenance, you can extend their life, keep brassiness at bay, and enjoy salon-fresh shine for months.

Here’s how to maintain your highlighted hair so that it lasts longer, looks brighter, and stays healthy between appointments.

How Long Do Highlights Really Last?

On average, classic foil or root-to-tip highlights last about 8 to–10 weeks, making them slightly high -maintenance. However, balayage or ombré highlights can last up to 12 to 16 weeks because the softer, hand-painted placement makes regrowth less noticeable.

Choose Low-Maintenance Highlight Techniques

If you struggle to keep up with regular salon visits, freehand and ombré techniques are the way to go.

• Balayage or Foilyage: These hand-painted methods blend color seamlessly into your natural tone, meaning a more gradual regrowth.
• Root Melt: If you already have highlights at the root, your colorist can apply a Root Melt in a shade that’s close to your natural color. This softens the appearance of the color as your hair grows out, and it extends the time

2. Use a Color-Protecting, Antioxidant Shampoo

Color-safe shampoos are essential for keeping highlights glossy and fresh; over time, metals and pollutants in water can dull your tone or make blonde highlights look brassy. No matter what color service you’ve booked in for - blonde highlights, brunette lowlights or a copper blonde - a shampoo that’s designed for color-treated hair is a home kit staple. These gentle cleansers are expertly formulated to maintain the pigment in your hair, and more advanced products, like the ColorMotion+ Shampoo, will offer antioxidant protection too. This helps to safeguard strands from pollutant particles and metals found in water, which are known to fade your color and turn highlights brassy.

3. FIT A SHOWER FILTER TO PREVENT FADING

Hard water minerals like calcium, copper, and iron can alter your hair color, especially blonde or caramel highlights. Installing a shower filter can help to remove these particles before they reach your hair and cause damage. If you struggle with a sensitive scalp, you may also find your skin becomes less irritated over time. Just make sure you replace the filter cartridges every six months..

4. KEEP MID-LENGHTS AND ENDS HYDRATED

Dry, porous hair loses color more quickly so it’s important to keep your highlights healthy and shiny with weekly hydration. Make sure that your routine includes a regular color conditioner and a deep treatment mask. Our picks are the ColorMotion+ Moisturizing Color Reflection Conditioner, used after every wash and for a weekly treat, the ColorMotion+ Structure Mask. Top tip: hair that is too wet can dilute the conditioners and mask you apply on top. After shampooing and before applying one, gently towel-dry your hair so all that nourishing goodness can be easily absorbed.

5. ENHANCE COOL BLONDES WITH THE COLOR FRESH MASK

Cool-toned blondes (think platinum, beige hues) rely on a little extra care to maintain their freshness, which is where the Color Fresh Mask in Pearl Blonde comes in. Designed to gently top up your tone without dramatically shifting the shade, it’s a treatment mask that you apply in place of a conditioner and then leave on for just 10 minutes. You don’t need to use it during every wash;, just on those days when locks are starting to learn warm or brassy. Smooth from root to tip to revive blonde highlights in a flash.

6. Always Use Heat and UV Protection

Heat styling and UV exposure are major causes of color fading. You should always protect your highlights every time you style your hair or step into the sun. One of the most crucial items in any highlights maintenance kit is a heat protection spray. Our pick is the EIMI Thermal Image mist, which fuses shine with shielding from heat up to 220°C. Use it every time you blow dry, straighten or curl your hair to save strands from fading brassy. We also recommend the INVIGO Sun UV Protection Spray to keep colored hair safe from the sun’s dulling and damaging rays.

7. BOOK IN A GOLDEN GLASS SERVICE

In between ‘big’ color appointments, like having your roots and highlights touched up, we recommend a Golden Glass Hair Service to give your hair a glass-like shine. This service is a combination of three color and care steps to achieve intensely glossy hair. It’s great for special occasions or, when you want your hair to look its very best. Visit your nearest Wella salon to book your glass hair transformation.

For more information on hair care, coloring and styling, check out our blog. Or, for an expert hair consultation, take our helpful hair quiz to get to know your strands better.